


Beardnis; the fantasy based on reality

by Keuukiel (FragilityandWaveringEmotions)



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Facial Shaving, Fluff, Husbands, M/M, Married Life, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Sickfic?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:34:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25423231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FragilityandWaveringEmotions/pseuds/Keuukiel
Summary: Gladio wants to look after his husband who is under the weather and wants a shave, so he treats his man to exactly what he deserves.
Relationships: Gladiolus Amicitia/Ignis Scientia
Comments: 16
Kudos: 50
Collections: FFXV Brotherly Love Week





	Beardnis; the fantasy based on reality

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome to the fluff-fest that is Gladio looking after his husband <3 
> 
> Hope you like it!

Barely past nine in the morning and Gladio raced home straight after delivering the first lot of drills for the day. Throat already aching from rising his voice so frequently to get the new recruits in line and teaching them how it was in the real world. It’s what he disliked most about initiation week; brats who thought they could own the place when they’d barely stepped out of education. 

So when Cor arrived to alleviate him of the next session to chill for a bit and grab some water, he didn’t feel all that guilty jumping in his car and heading back home. After all, an hour or so with the Marshal and the recruits would be putty in his hand when he returned.

Normally he wouldn’t do this. The mere thought of sneaking out on work wasn’t even a debate for him because that wasn't the type of guy he was. He’s honour-bound to Noctis’ side like a hawk and he prides himself on that, but it’s not like Noctis wouldn’t mind a bit of freedom before Gladio turned up to escort him to his obligations in Ignis’ stead.

Kicking off his boots, Gladio scanned the living area for signs of Ignis having been down here but everything looked undisturbed from when he left this morning. The cushions on their sofa laying askew rather than propped up and plumped up, or the _presentable_ way as he’d come to know it. Even the kitchen lacked it’s usual fragrant Ebony aroma when Ignis was prowling around their home. Though the grocery shopping list he’d scribbled for himself to pick up after work tonight remained on the corner of the counter, so he grabbed the list, stuffed it haphazardly in his back pocket and turned back on himself to bound up the stairs two at a time, lightly knocking on their bedroom door before entering.

The curtains were still drawn, blocking out most of the sunlight, just as he’d left them this morning to let Ignis rest as long as possible. Hopefully. 

“Iggy, babe, you awake?” Gladio whispered, squinting in the direction of their empty, unmade bed. Ignis’ pillow had been tossed to one side in favour of Gladio’s being in the centre of the bed and with the folds in their duvet revealing Ignis had most certainly been using it for himself.

It wasn’t like his husband at all, but hell, it was endearing.

“Ignis...?” he tried again, this time his attention drawn to their en-suite door slightly ajar, letting a slither of sunlight into their bedroom.

“I’m in here, love.”

“Figures,” he muttered to himself, wading through the darkness and poking his head in through the door.

In this light, Ignis looked even more pale-faced than he had this morning, with his unstyled hair sticking to his forehead in places and glasses nowhere to be seen. Fixated on the mirror, Ignis was wearing a borrowed pair of Gladio’s training trousers which loosely hung around his hips and one of his overly large vest tops that he only really brought for summer but didn’t actually bother with given he liked showing his tattoo off.

Okay, yeah. That visual did all kinds of things to him. And wow. He wanted to see Ignis in his clothes more often. Internally slapping himself as now wasn’t the time for those thoughts, so with a deep breath, he invited himself in, hand tentatively slipping under the vest to rest on the small of Ignis’ back. Damn, Ignis had the softest skin.

“What you doin' out of bed? Thought we’d agreed you were gonna rest,” Gladio said, pressing a kiss to Ignis’ shoulder before looking at their reflections in the mirror, watching Ignis’ fingertips shakily brush along his stubble. 

“I know, and I tried, but it’s been three days already, Gladio,” Ignis sighed, curling in on himself and resting against Gladio. “I’m not used to doing nothing about my appearance for this duration of time. Just a few days and look at what’s become of me...” 

“You think I’m not looking at you? Hell, Iggy, if you knew the way you make me feel, even now, you’d realise nothing you can do will ever make me stop thinking you’re the hottest thing out there.”

“Well, observed. It’s called a temperature,” Ignis teased, meeting Gladio’s gaze in the mirror, wearing a weak smile.

“Alright, smartass,” Gladio grinned, shaking his head whilst wearing the fondest of expressions, noting Ignis’ attention drifting to his facial hair again. “Stubble getting to you now, huh?”

“Something like that,” Ignis agreed. Both his body language and voice sounded so lifeless. So fragile. So defeated. “I want to feel like myself again and be back at work. I cannot afford to take this much time off.”

Gladio gave a throaty hum in acknowledgement, mulling over what he could do. Telling Ignis to relax wouldn’t cut it, not when he could feel how tense Ignis’ muscles were against him. 

He couldn’t recall Ignis ever being off work for three consecutive days, let alone living in his clothes. 

Then it struck him. 

“Give me two secs, yeah?”

“Where are you going?” Ignis asked, hand reaching for the counter to support himself as Gladio slipped away, looking every bit helpless.

Gladio faltered. He hadn’t signed up to see Ignis look at him like that and for these feelings to stir. All he wanted to do was scoop his husband up and tuck him back in bed. That guy needed to learn when to stop pushing himself. 

Darting out the en-suite, Gladio sights landed on Ignis’ vanity dresser, home to all his cufflinks and neckwear, not to mention an array of other accessories, and he grabbed the chair, dashing back to the bathroom, setting it down in front of the mirror.

“Sit,” he instructed, patting the back of it as if to make the chair more inviting.

“But why? What are you up to?” Ignis asked, looking utterly perplexed at the sight of his ornate black oak and purple leather cushioned seat materialising in their en-suite. “I don’t understand.”

“Yeah, well you will do, babe. Just sit and trust me, all right? I got your back,” Gladio grinned, giving the chair another pat and this time Ignis obeyed staring at him in the mirror and he couldn't resist tousing Ignis’ unkempt hair earning himself a glare and his hand being swatted away.

“I haven’t washed my hair and I feel disgusting. Please, if not for your sake then for mine, try not to touch me too much,” Ignis sighed, shoulders falling. 

Ignis looked so dejected as he hung his head, but Gladio hooked a finger under his husband’s chin and knelt on the floor, bringing them near eye level. Emerald eyes focused on him, looking from one eye to the other, studying him in silence.

Gladio shook his head. “How you can consider yourself anything accept beautiful to me is-”

“Gladio, I’m-”

“Uh-uh, Iggy,” he cut in, shaking his head, and Ignis’ word tapered off into silence. “ _You_ are beautiful and handsome. Every inch of you is perfect. There’s not a thing I don’t love about you. Even rugged and needy like this,” Gladio teased, his finger brushing lightly back and forth at the stubble under Ignis’ chin. 

“I’m many things right now, but _needy_ is most certainly not one. Now if you’re quite finished, I want to shave and at least create an illusion of normality,” Ignis huffed, though he put no real effort into moving away when he easily could. Instead, he reached out, palm resting flat against Gladio’s cheek. “Thank you for coming home to check on me. I know I’m a touch irritable, but I really do appreciate you.”

“I know, babe. I know,” Gladio smiled, holding Ignis’ eye contact as he pressed a single kiss to the palm of Ignis’ hand. The moment was brief, but before he could get distracted, he stood up and stretched. His back clicked. “Which is why I’m gonna help you.”

Ignis recoiled. His expression of complete horror and as though he’d never heard such a preposterous idea before. 

It was for lack of a better description adorable. Yeah. That fit. Ignis was being nothing short of adorable. 

Gladio beamed, even more set on looking after his baby now than he was before. “You can trust me, babe. When have I ever hurt you?” 

Ignis arched an eyebrow as he folded one leg over the other in time with his arms. “Do elaborate if that was intended to be rhetorical because otherwise I’ve quite the list I can provide, neither exclusive to the training hall _or_ our bedroom.”

Gladio scratched the back of his head. That was a fair point. He had been a bit heavy-handed in the past. “Okay, well, when have I ever _intentionally_ hurt you?”

“Hopefully never.”

“There we go,” Gladio nodded, grin returning to his face. “If I start and you don’t like it, that’s cool, but at least let me try to help you, okay? I just… I hate seeing you like this and I wanna do something before I go crazy feeling useless.”

For a few moments, he didn’t think this was going to go past Ignis. The guy was literally the personification of independence that translated in a lot of their marital life, too. Gladio wanted to give and be relied on, get a bit of an ego boost here and there, but Ignis was so calm and collected, able to multitask beyond anything Gladio could and sometimes it was hard to meet in the middle and find some kind of compromise. 

However, this time, Ignis’ glare softened at the edges and in turn, his body language didn’t look so stiff as he relaxed his legs so both of his bare feet were on the tiled floor again. It was permission. 

“Thanks, babe,” Gladio grinned, pressing a light kiss to Ignis’ forehead ignoring Ignis complaining about how repulsive he felt and he continued on, getting set up. Starting with tucking Ignis’ hair behind his ears.

It was weird gathering all his bits together, knowing he was about to shave Ignis. Like, literally, he’d been doing this to himself since he was maybe thirteen and now, it was almost as though he’d forgotten the process.

What was the protocol for looking after your stubbornly independent husband when he finally yielded and accepted the help offered? This was possibly only the third or fourth time Ignis had ever let his barrier down for something mundane. 

“Right, uhh…” Gladio grabbed his shaving brush and foam, a flannel and razor, changing its head and discarding the old one. 

Normally he shaved fresh out the shower when the hair was all soft and his body could just drip dry onto the towel at his feet, but that wasn’t an option this time so he turned on the tap, letting the tips of his fingers test the temperature. He always preferred it warm, but he knew Ignis liked it hotter, so he adjusted it just enough that it was slightly beyond comfortable for himself and grabbed the flannel, soaking it and lightly squeezing it to get out the excess water.

As if on cue, Ignis lifted his chin, though only a little, to expose most of his hair growth and Gladio dabbed the flannel to Ignis’ face, making sure all the area was washed down. His free hand mindlessly slipping into Ignis’ hair at the back of his head, supporting him. Ignis let out a little pleased hum, making his Adam's apple bob down ever so slightly, and wow. Gladio was staring, forgetting that the flannel was dripping water down onto Ignis’ chest until he cleared his throat and Gladio snapped back to reality, dabbing Ignis’ face some more. Mumbling an apology.

Damn, he loved Ignis with a beard. 

He just loved Ignis.

He bit his lip to stop himself from saying something inappropriate in this situation and tossed the flannel beside the sink, reluctantly letting go of the back of Ignis’ head to grab the shaving foam, squirting some on his wet fingertips, working it into a lather between them.

“Might be a bit cold.”

“Matters not,” Ignis replied, tilting his head to the side as Gladio started applying the foam to the left side of Ignis’ face, wetting his hand and reworking some more foam between his fingers and applying it again. “Careful. I might come to rely on you if you keep touching me this tenderly.”

_Yeah, like I’d complain about that._

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Gladio grinned, fingertips brushing delicately over Ignis beard, tracing the line along his jaw and the underside of his chin. His thumb smearing foam above and below Ignis lips, feeling every groove and every hair prickle against his calloused thumb. He took great care in making sure no hair was uncovered. 

When he was finally satisfied, a low rumbling hum sounded from deep in his throat. Taking a moment to admire his work, or more actually Ignis, before he set the foam down and washed his hand down under the tap, this time putting the plug in and letting it fill. 

“Wanna keep going?” Gladio checked, briefly looking at his foam covered husband, then back at the sink, turning the tap off at the desired level. He dipped his finger in just once to check the temperature was still to Ignis’ liking, looking back to see a playful glint in Ignis’ eyes for the first time in days.

“Come now, I’m hardly one to pull out early, am I?” 

Gladio choked. Ignis smirked. The razor was in hand.

“Best concentrate now, love,” Ignis smiled innocently as though he wasn’t the reason Gladio had faltered. 

His shoulders tensed, and chest grew tight. The fear of cutting Ignis terrified him. Not that he didn’t do that to himself sometimes, but to his man? Yeah, he never wanted to hurt the guy who made him all kinds of soft inside.

Ignis’ eyes were locked on him and it only made the task harder as his hand moved to cradle the back of Ignis’ head as the other lined the razorblade up, taking one gentle stroke to test the pressure and how resistant Ignis’ stubble was under these conditions. It was no more than from the base of his ear up to his hairline, but actually… it looked all right.

“Feeling more confident now?” Ignis asked as Gladio shook the razor in the water to get the excess foam off.

He rolled his eyes. “Can’t get anything passed you, can I?” 

“No. Apparently not,” Ignis responded with a brief smile that faded as the razorblade was lined up once more.

They fell to silence once more as Gladio went for another stroke, shake clean, followed by another stroke. He worked with pinpoint accuracy, getting his face close to Ignis’ enough to feel his husband’s breath against his skin, so he could match each stroke against the direction his husband’s hair grew. Ignis was all about that precision shave, after all.

Just over halfway through and Ignis smiled, lighting up his emerald eyes. Pupil’s dilating. 

“What you smilin’ about, huh?” Gladio teased, smiling back like Ignis was infectious. 

“Is it such a crime to admire my husband?” Ignis responded, angling his head as Gladio guided him with the hand still tenderly at the back of Ignis’ head. 

“No crime, but you got me distracted… Hell, you look so kissable when you look at me like that,” Gladio said, disbelief evident in his voice, because seriously, what the hell had he done to deserve this perfect man letting him repeatedly stroke a blade across his damn chiselled to perfection features and look nothing but relaxed and comfortable? 

His smile must have given him away as he admired Ignis because there, on the side of Ignis’ face with no shaving foam to obscure his view, there was a blush. His stoic, charming and too often guarded husband was blushing. 

“Now there’s a sight,” Gladio hummed, stroking the blade up Ignis’ right cheek to unveil more of his husband’s divine flushed cheeks. A sight he rarely, if ever, saw outside of the bedroom.

“Don’t get used to it,” Ignis mumbled as Gladio shook the razorblade in the water again, and Gladio couldn’t help but caress the back of Ignis’ neck, softly, tenderly. Touching him. Loving him. Needing to show him every ounce of affection possible.

“You’re really tempting fate, Iggy,” Gladio said, somewhere between a warning and a purr as the blade stroked across Ignis’ cheek again. 

He took a long hard look at Ignis’ lips as he shook the blade clean, noting every little ridge and the evidence of them being chapped from poor care these past few days. They were firmly pressed together, but just the little distinctive curl upwards that most people would miss told him Ignis had caught him staring again.

“Focus.”

“I am. That’s the problem,” Gladio responded, giving Ignis’ hairline at the back of his neck a little fuss and finally, he made one final decisive stroke and it was finished. The temptation could finally be interrupted with him emptying the sink and washing the razorblade down under the steady stream of water now the tap was flowing again. 

Gladio set the razorblade down at the side of the counter, grabbing the flannel and soaking it thoroughly under the tap, giving it a squeeze. This time when he returned his hand to supporting Ignis, he didn’t even think twice about his wet hand on Ignis’ skin as he gently wiped his husband’s face clean, relieved there wasn’t a single accidental cut.

Hell, Ignis was beautiful. Acne scars and all.

The moment was short-lived as Ignis shuffled out of his grip, grabbing the hem of the vest he’d borrowed from Gladio and pulled it over his head, shaking his hair free from behind his ears as he sat topless and expectantly, making Gladio practise a level of refrain that he never normally did. 

And innocently as always, Ignis held out the sodden vest, holding Gladio’s gaze. “It seems you made a mess of me, love. Perhaps you could provide me with another?”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm used to being the smol spoon so it was pretty fun writing the other perspective haha
> 
> Don't forget to let me know if you liked it :D


End file.
